Fighter Training Wing Date Raised : 1968-01-15 Disbanded : 1983-09-30 Location : Hakimpet Hakimpet was first revived as a training airfield in the Autumn of 1951 with the establishment of the Conversion Training Units (CTU). The CTU operated Spitfire T Mk IX s , Spitfire XVIIIs and Tempest IIs to impart fighter conversion training to newly commissioned pilots of the IAF (Starting with the 55th Pilots Course (PC)). CTU was re-designated as Jet Training Wing (JTW) in 1958 with the phasing out of all Piston engine fighters in the IAF. A second JTW was set up in Bidar after the Indo-China border conflict and both JTWs at Hakimpet and Bidar were redesignated as No.1 JTW and No.2 JTW respectively. But by 1968, Jet training was again bought under the sole purview of Hakimpet and both JTWs were merged together to form the 'Fighter Training Wing' (FTW). In July 1975 12 Kiran aircraft arrived at the station and these were supplemented by Polish Iskra in October that year. Starting from 1951 till 1976 the Station had six aircraft on its inventory- Vampire, Iskra, Spitfire, Tempest, Alouette and Kiran. A milestone in the annals of Hakimpet was the arrival of Helicopter Training School (HTS) in 1973. In September 1976, a detachment of 36ED and Iskra MCF commenced at the station. In 1983, FTW Hakimpet was redesignated as a full fledged station and renamed Air Force Station Hakimpet (AFS Hakimpet) to be commanded by an Air Commodore. The Detachment of 26 ED which had replaced 36ED in October 1990 was upgraded to a full-fledged Units and was renamed as 43 ED in November 1996.The station also houses Technical Type Training (TETTRA) School to provide technical type of training to the prospective Army, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force pilots prior to commencing their flying training. Air Force Station Hakimpet also houses a training facility for the training of Non-Technical Air Warriors in the Non Technical Training Institute (NTTI). The NTTI is also headed by a Chief instructor and provides training for over 200 airmen trainees in Administrative Assistant trade.
Aircraft Types operated over the years: |
Commanding Officers | |||||
Dates | Rank & Name | Number | Remarks | Location | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
15 Jan 68 to 29 Dec 70 | Group Captain Reginald John Manual Upot | 3599 GD(P) | CO | Hakimpet | |
30 Dec 70 to 24 Dec 73 | Group Captain Surendra Nath Kawlra | 3945 GD(P) | CO | Hakimpet | |
07 Jan 74 to 26 Oct 75 | Group Captain Bakhshish Singh | 3948 GD(P) | CO | Hakimpet | |
27 Oct 75 to 18 Dec 77 | Group Captain Cecil Vivian Parker | 4346 GD(P) | CO | Hakimpet | |
13 Mar 78 to 10 Oct 80 | Group Captain Edwin Godfrey Salins | 4796 GD(P) | Cmdt | Hakimpet | |
21 Oct 80 to 12 Sep 82 | Group Captain Tehmurasp Ratanshaw Patel | 5192 GD(P) | Cmdt | Hakimpet | |
13 Sep 82 to 16 Jul 83 | Group Captain Krishen Kumar Bakshi | 5012 GD(P) | Cmdt | Hakimpet | |
18 Jul 83 to 30 Sep 83 | Group Captain Sherwin Derek Leslie Tully | 5270 GD(P) | Cmdt | Hakimpet |